Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The Small Town Effect

I live in a small farming village. Out
of 10,000 people I am one of 6 asians, and the only Filipina. Right
now I'll put a disclaimer that 97% of the people in this town are
good. They work hard and are polite. I've gained a lot of friends in
this town. My neighbors treat me like family and bring me to family gatherings. I love living here, and it has been one of the best
experiences in my life. In fact, I begged the junta to let me stay
here one more year, and they rejected me - twice.

On the other hand, I feel like it's
only proper to talk about the other side of the coin, especially for
English teachers coming here. Not to scare anyone, only to be
mentally prepared for the inevitable. I'm lucky because I haven't
been persecuted much. But it has happened.

If you're black or asian, speak
English, and are unused to lots of staring, you'd better have a thick
skin to live in a small town. Xenophobia rears its ugly head once in
a while. What one has to understand is many people in my town can't
travel often outside of Spain. They don't have money, or their work
or school schedule doesn't allow much of it. With the new generation,
a number of them have traveled, and some have developed a ravenous
need to see more of the world.

I've been lucky in that the worst
incidents have only been verbal harassment by stupid teenagers,
including them yelling “China!” or “Konichiwa!”, or a few store
owners having no patience for a Canadian struggling to understand
their way-too-rapid Spanish.

With speaking English, some of the
reactions I get from the locals are funny. Most are quite happy to
hear me speak it, but some react with giggles or stares. It's usually
their discomfort and not a fault of mine, although I end up
feeling uncomfortable, too. I find my native tongue is a great
weapon, though. I remember two particular incidents where the
harassment was really annoying, and I unleashed a flurry of English
swearing, which dumbfounded them.

I think traveling and going out alone
have taught me how to handle myself when harassment happens.

If I had to give advice, I'd say the
first thing to do is to walk away if someone says something. During
my first month or two in Villacarrillo, I'd hear the odd comment but
would ignore it and continue on my merry way. As soon as word got out
about my purpose in living there, it basically stopped. Once you
surpass the hard times, the only people left around you are the good
souls.